SLAUGHTER!

20th October 2008

Grade 10 are taking their exams next week (GCSE equivalent).There has been little in the way of lessons taught all week, in fact, it's been more like a Butlins Holiday Camp than a school (do they still exist? Butlins I mean?).Things haven't been helped by the threat of a teachers' strike, which would affect the examinations, so teachers have been coming and going all week to this union meeting (where no decision was made) to that union meeting (where no decision was made), and there's another one due to take place tomorrow which is the Friday before examinations week and no-one knows whether the teachers will be on strike or not.In addition, the school has been concentrating it's efforts (on teaching you might ask?What's that?) on organising a 'sitting meal' for Grade 10 (why it's before their exams and not after I'm not sure, and why it's called a 'sitting meal' I'm not sure either).So this has taken up the efforts of the whole of the teaching staff for a week, so school has been a hive of activity (not teaching or learning activity of course).

I began to get anxious two days ago when I discovered two pigs and two goats tethered just outside our house.Yes, you've guessed, they and apparently a cow (which isn't in my close vicinity, I'm glad to say) are being slaughtered for the feast!We went to the Home Economics Department after writing out 300 place names today, to see if we could help.'Yes' said the teacher in charge, 'we're about to slaughter the meat, come and watch.' As I was sick outside the door, I think they realised I wasn't interested!I asked politely why they slaughtered the pigs so cruelly. (They club it to death and it can take some time to die, if the person doing the slaughtering isn't strong enough to do it in one blow.)The answer I got was that they don't care if they cause the animal pain and suffering, and that's as much as I could get out of them.The pigs will be cooked in traditional style.It's called a Mu Mu, where they heat stones in a pit, then they take out half the stones when they are hot enough, line the pit with banana leaves and put the whole pigs or goats into it.They then cover them with more hot stones and more banana leaves and leave them for about an hour, when they are allegedly cooked through.

On other school matters, we have just finished doing a second baseline assessment of the school, to compare with the first one we did soon after we arrived.This involves lesson observations and interviews with students and teachers.In our conversations with pupils we discovered that for one class, they hadn't had any English lessons for the whole term and we're now in term 4.So I asked what their parents thought of this and they said they hadn't told them.We asked why and they said because the parents would come into school and scream and shout (which I think the students felt they would find embarrassing and they might get the backlash from the teachers).I suspect it could also set off tribal warfare, which might not be a bad thing if it meant the students got taught properly!However, that apart, the study did show some slight shift in teachers' attitudes and students' enjoyment of their lessons, which cheered us up somewhat.There was a sticky moment during an inservice session recently, where we were getting the teachers to think about planning for next year (a new phenomenon apparently).I was working with a group of Science teachers and noticed John having a bit of an altercation with two Maths teachers, who were stupid enough to tell John they had nothing to do.Bad move!!This resulted in John requesting that one of them step outside, where a long 'discussion' ensued!!They made the mistake of asking John 'Why do you care?'I don't think they got the answer they expected!

Teachers amongst you, can you remember all the original excuses provided by students as to why their homework hadn't been done?Like the dog ate it, Mum washed it, My sister tore it up etc?Well the Deputy here was supposed to provide us with some information which we needed to work on and John gave him a USB for the purpose.When pressed for this information persistently, he squirmed and avoided us for a week and eventually admitted that he hadn't got it, as his wife had washed the USB!!!

I went into a meeting with the Expressive Farts teachers (sorry, Arts) to see how they were getting on with the new curriculum, to discover they had no paints, no musical instruments, no space for movement or drama, in fact nothing to enable them to deliver the curriculum, apart from a few pencils for pencil drawings.Hopeless!!Our Deputy Head has been absent for 2 weeks.He went down to Port Moresby to try and sort out the fact that he hadn't been paid some of his back pay from years back.He told us that to get his money from the commissioner, he had to bribe him with money and betel nut.He then signed the necessary papers which had to be presented to another official, who also had to be bribed, and taken out for a meal.To add insult to injury, all this messing about meant he missed his flight back and had to buy another ticket, so all in all it cost him in the region of £800.00 to get money to which he was entitled.Crazy!

Life is good here for children in some respects and hideous in others.Mothers seem to produce babies annually, then leave them with an older sibling and they go off and do their own thing.Consequently, children of pre school age are left to occupy themselves all day, mostly unsupervised.They have a wonderful time, climbing trees, playing games, messing around in the mud, often stark naked and uninterrupted by adults, meals or any other distractions.However, on the other side of the coin, we often awake to children screaming and look out to discover a child, in the fresh early morning air, stark naked being doused under a cold water tank for its morning wash!We've got used to their howling and their being totally ignored, no matter how pitiful the wailing.But one day, the children were all playing outside our house when we heard real screaming.On looking out we saw a mother holding a child of no more than 4 years old and beating him about the head and body with a stick the thickness of a broom handle.She continued beating him whilst dragging him by one arm, on his front, down a slope and into the house, where goodness only knows what punishment he continued to suffer.It upset us for a long time, because one questions what could we have done? In this instance nothing, as we were in the house and if we had been visible to the mother I don't think it would have happened in our presence, but it would still have happened behind closed doors.Very distressing.

However, on a positive note, it's mango season here and they are delicious - can't get enough of them and the pineapples are toothachingly sweet!!Our new boss, Jake, has worked previously for VSO as a placement adviser.Apparently, he was about to offer us a placement at a college in Ethiopia, just as our own adviser offered us PNG.So, interesting to think we might have ended up in Ethiopia instead of PNG.Maarten leaves on Tuesday and turned up to-day, not just to ask us out for a beer, but also to deliver his bread making machine, so we can make our own bread. Nice!! We have a serious concern though, what happens when the electricity cuts off half way through the three hour bread making process?I'll let you know when it happens, as it surely will!!

Our boss from Madang is in Kundiawa this week, checking up on what we're up to and he has a VSO car, which has meant we have been out on a couple of nights, as we are able to get home after dark - quite a social life in fact!!To demonstrate the lack of ability to plan here, as we were having our beer yesterday, Maarten got a phone call inviting him for a farewell dinner hosted by the Provincial Education Officers.When?In 2 hours time!!We're having a farewell meal with him, Cate and the other volunteers tomorrow, which has been organised for the past fortnight!!

Well, John has just taken delivery of some gorgeous fresh strawberries and is in the midst of jam making.That'll keep him quiet for the rest of the evening while I get on with my book - I'm really into Conn Iggulden - Wolf of the Plains, enjoying it a lot.

Tomorrow I shall avoid eating pig, goat and cow at the 'sitting meal' as inconspicuously as possible.I shall not fall asleep during mind numbing speeches.I shall look forward to an evening in the company of friends and sadly saying goodbye to Maarten and Cate.

Hope you are all enjoying autumn.We are home in exactly 46days -bring it on!!